Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026
Drew Brees
Larry Fitzgerald
Luke Kuechly
Adam Vinatieri
Roger Craig
If Kevin Williams had managed to make it through the process, this Class would rank with my favorites. Watching Larry Fitzgerald and Luke Kuechly play football was so much fun. They are two of my favorite non-Minnesota Vikings players of any era. With Fitzgerald’s Minnesota roots it feels as if he’s Vikings-adjacent. As the team’s ball boy during Vikings training camps in the late-1990s, Fitzgerald joined Cris Carter and Randy Moss as future Pro Football Hall of Fame receivers on those Mankato practice fields. I’d probably hold Drew Brees in higher esteem if it wasn’t for his bounty-gating New Orleans Saints teams. Despite playing in the long shadow of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, Brees was a brilliant, exciting quarterback. There aren’t many in Pro Football Hall of Fame for exclusively special teams. Adam Vinatieri deserves to be one of them. He’s the league’s all-time leading scorer. He has Super Bowl-winning kicks. He’s arguably the best kicker in league history. Despite the position he played, Vinatieri had the sort of career that’s deserving of an early entry into Canton. Finally, Roger Craig finally made it. I suppose that he had a long Hall wait because his career stats don’t rank with the best running back’s in league history. The 1980s San Francisco 49ers were one of the greatest dynasties in NFL history. Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Fred Dean, and Charles Haley are the only players from those teams in Canton. Haley made it for his Dallas days as much as his 49ers days. As great as Montana and Rice were, Craig was often the engine of the offense. He should’ve made it to the Hall of Fame before he his the Senior pool.
It’s unfortunate that the highlight of this terrific Pro Football Hall of Fame Class is a person not in it. There isn’t a single reason for Bill Belichick to not make it to Canton in his first year of eligibility. He’s more deserving of that honor than Drew Brees or Larry Fitzgerald. It doesn’t even seem possible. Yet, here we are. Part of the reason is an ludicrous voting process. One that that’s seen its last days. It should never have seen any days. The biggest reason Belichick isn’t part of this Class is the 11 idiots that didn’t vote for him. I don’t give a shit about their reasons. They can talk in circles about the reasoning but it’s only ever going to come down to spite. The voters are trusted with honoring the history of pro football. The 11 idiots spit on that trust and punished someone they personally didn’t like. Oh, Belichick is going to get to Canton. That’s what those 11 idiots will say to make themselves feel better, to make them feel like they’re still honoring pro football’s great history. Well, the damage is already done. They’ve taken away the honor of being a first ballot Hall of Famer. It’s what Bill Belichick deserved. It’s what his career deserved. Poof. Gone.
It sure would’ve been nice to see Kevin Williams and especially Bill Belichick round out this Class. As it stands, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a great, fun Class. Congratulations to the five new Pro Football Hall of Famers. See you in Canton in August.
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